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Aircraft Noise

Noise from Aircraft in Vista Lakes
December 2007

Does it seem like planes from the nearby Orlando International Airport are always taking off right over Vista Lakes? Wouldn’t you think that they could do something about it?

Yes you would, and yes they do! In fact, you may be surprised at the efforts made by the airport authority to avoid noise from aircraft in our area. This information was obtained at Aviation Noise Abatement Committee meetings held by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, the entity that runs the airport.

First here is some background information:

• Orlando International Airport, or OIA, has four runways, all oriented north-south. Whether planes land and take-off and land to the north or south is determined mostly by wind direction (planes like to take off and land headed into the wind).
• Aircraft make more noise when they take off than when they are landing because their engines are at full power.
• Commercial airliners don’t just take off and head towards their destinations; instead they fly specific routes, like highways in the sky. The direction (called “heading”) the planes go shortly after they take off depends on what route the pilots have chosen.
• Vista Lakes is less than two miles northeast of the northern end of the nearest runway.

So you can see that most of the noise from aircraft is from planes taking off to the north following routes that bring them over Vista Lakes. Not all planes taking off to the north fly over Vista Lakes.

While it may seem that we have planes taking off over us most of the time, actually that is not true!

Because of the higher population density to the north of OIA, the Airport Authority has a policy of taking off to the south whenever possible, even when the wind is from the north if it isn’t too strong, thus taking off with the wind instead of into the wind. In fact, over the course of a year, they average only 15% of take-offs and landings to the north. Please note, however, that this is an average for the whole year; for any given month, the percentage may be higher or lower.

For example, in the late Fall and winter many cold fronts come down over the Florida peninsular which brings us winds from the north, so during these months the percentage of north take-offs may be greater. Also, these are the months when we’re more likely to have our doors and windows open thereby allowing more noise into the house.

So even though it may seem like the noise is constant, actually we only get the really loud aircraft noise a small percentage of the time. Of course that doesn’t help when you’re sitting on your lanai and can’t hear what the person next to you is saying for a few moments, but at least the noise isn’t as constant as we may perceive it to be.

To Get More Information. There are online resources for further information.

The Airport Authority maintains an excellent web site chock full of information, http://www.orlandoairports.net (the webmaster is a Vista Lakes resident, Jerry Harris). This site contains a section dedicated to noise issues which can be accessed via the menu on the left of the home page, or directly at http://www.orlandoairports.net/noise/Index.htm

Noise Complaints: Complaints can be made to the Airport Authority via the Noise Hotline, 407-825-2003 or registered using the online form at the airport web site referenced above.

[Note: This article was written by Jim Shelton, a Vista Lakes resident, who is solely responsible for the accuracy of its content. Although this article was reviewed by knowledgeable personnel and is believed accurate, it has no official status whatsoever. The author may be contacted via